The Donays
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The Donays were a 1960s R&B girl-group out of
Hamtramck, Michigan Hamtramck ( ) is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 28,433. Hamtramck is surrounded by the city of Detroit except for a small portion that borders the fellow enclave city of Hi ...
. In 1961 the group recorded Richard P. Drapkin (aka Ricky Dee) song "Devil in His Heart" for Detroit's Correc-tone Records. Possibly produced in Detroit by Richard "Popcorn" Wylie, it and "Bad Boy" may be the only Donays recordings. In August, 1962 the recording was released as the B-side of "Bad Boy" on larger New York label Brent. Donays, The – Bad Boy / Devil In His Heart
Brent 7033.
The record was somehow discovered (perhaps by
George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...
, who sings the lead vocal) and recorded by
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
in 1963, retitled as "
Devil in Her Heart "Devil in His Heart" is a song written by Richard B. Drapkin, who recorded under the name Ricky Dee. Recordings The song was originally recorded as "Devil in His Heart" in Detroit by the Donays for Correc-tone Records. It was later picked up ...
". The lead singer of The Donays was Yvonne Vernee Allen. A decade later, Motown group
The Elgins The Elgins were an American vocal group on the Motown label, active from the late 1950s to 1967. Their most successful record was " Heaven Must Have Sent You", written and produced by the Holland–Dozier–Holland team, which was a hit in the U ...
(which broke up in 1967) reunited to tour Britain in 1971 after it enjoyed two unexpected UK Top 20 hits. Yvonne, previously a session vocalist, took the place of former lead vocalist Saundra Mallett Edwards. The reunion sputtered. Yvonne continued singing into the 1990s, working for Ian Levine's Motor City label. Colin Larkin, ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', at Oldies.com
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References

American rhythm and blues musical groups Musical groups from Detroit {{US-R&B-band-stub